DA 2010 Episode 1: Out of the Shadows
by AngelExposed
Summary: A new era of Dismal Angel has arrived. Seven years after Jared Rickman's death, the X-Men have managed to capture Remy LeBeau and now the time comes to learn the truth. (FINISHED r&r)
1. Chapter 1: The Chase

Dismal Angel 2010 – Episode 1

Chapter 1: The Chase

             He was running.  The shadowed figure ran along the rooftops as Ororo Munro sailed across the wind watching him below, he jumped over large stretches of alley between buildings in an almost cat like manner, landing on his feet every time with an eerie precision, he was a fast runner, and agile as he hopped over railings and debris, his pace quickening.

             She'd been chasing him for some time, he didn't seem to be growing weary, but Ororo was, it was time to stop the figure swathed in black before he got away altogether.

             Even while caught in the chase, it occurred to Ororo this shadowed figure had nothing to do with the mission, except that he had simply arrived in what seemed to be the wrong place at the wrong time.  The X-Men had been trying to trace the whereabouts of Juggernaut in Illinois when somehow they'd lost him, and that was when the dark lithe figure had appeared.

             He showed no face beneath the black mask, but something about the way he'd moved when he'd arrived where the X-Men had been staked out waiting to try and capture Juggernaut, seemed to suggest alarm and panic.  He'd been fast, perhaps too fast.

             Ororo threw her out, and the sky cracked and split with light as she summoned blue-white lightning to her fingertips, she thrust her hand downwards, throwing forks of it towards the shadowy figure – who skilfully dodged each one in turn.

             "Storm, did you catch up with him?" the voice of Scott Summers came through her communicator, which was attached to the belt around her slim waist.

             Ororo forced the wind to all the might it could muster, propelling her forwards, "He's heading north – about to run out of buildings to sprint across – now would be a good time to cut him off, Cyclops!" she spoke to her communicator, pressing down on her belt with one free hand, holding her other arm out to balance herself.

             "Bobby is already on it!" replied a rather serious sounding Cyclops, "When he traps him, get ready to try and approach – but be careful!"

             "I shall be," Ororo drew more lightning from the sky to light the rooftops below, she could see the figure – whom she was positive had to be male – now heading towards what was going to be a dead end.  "He's approaching the edge of the building!" she cried into the communicator.

             "I'm on it, Storm!" came the enthusiastic voice of Bobby Drake – and as if on cue a very tall wall of ice appeared up almost as if out of nowhere, forming from the very edge of the building before the dark figure had a chance to reach its edge.  Ororo watched the dark figure slam into the wall.  Even without seeing his face, his body language spoke volumes, he was becoming frustrated.  The walls began to rise around the dark figure, Bobby Drake – also known as Iceman – rose from a slide of ice near the edge of the building, standing proud in his ice form.  "Got him!  Got this sucker on ice!" he cried unreservedly, throwing his hands up to the air as if he were cheering.

             Ororo let the winds dissipate around her, she began to slowly descend from the sky into the large circular roofless ice prison that Bobby had created, the dark figure tried to run, "Stop running, we mean you no harm!" Ororo cried at the shadowed figure.

             The shadowed figure didn't seem interested in her plea, and more determined to get out of the trap.  He put two black-leather-gloved hands against the walls of the ice prison, his hands glowing a faint yellowish-orange that seemed to pass into the ice, he let go, and a large chunk of the ice imploded, leaving him enough room to climb out, and allowing him to take off once again, this time in a different direction.

             Ororo gaped, she'd seen this kind of power before, and it dawned on her from where, "By the goddess…" she whispered to herself, she let her hand quickly grab onto her belt to broadcast her voice over the communicator, "He's escaped," she took to the sky, "Heading East now!" 

             Ororo dare not announce yet who she was beginning to suspect this shadowed figure might be, perhaps it was because the last night the figure had spent as one of the X-Men he'd been guilty of murder, or maybe it was that she just didn't like to make assumptions.  It might be possible more than one mutant on Earth possessed the same abilities as the man she was thinking of.  Ororo swallowed her nerves and began to follow by sky, "he's leapt off the side!" she cried, watching the dark figure leap from the side of the building, her eyes wide.  

             "Kitty should be able to get him!  She's down at the North East side now!" Scott's voice came through the communicator, "I'm on my way there now to try and head him off!"

             "Kitty!" Ororo pressed the button off her communicator, "the runner is heading down your way, stop him at all costs!"

             Kitty Pryde slammed her hand against her communicator belt, it had been a while since she'd heard any voices on it.  She'd been patrolling the North East of a nearby apartment building in Illinois, the others had gone to chase a suspicious man in black – she'd been told to wait East until signalled.  "Helloooooooo," she whined, hoping her voice was broadcasting to the others, "can you guys, like, hear me?  I haven't heard anything but static in the last ten minutes…" she sighed.

             Static echoed from the communicator belt, but nothing else, she frowned and tapped at it again, this time a bit more furiously.  She realised she might have accidentally short-circuited the belt when she'd phased through a wall earlier that night.  Kitty's misfortune with her powers always inadvertently ruining electrical or battery operated technology had begun to become a bit of an inconvenience for her.

"What's going on up there?" she asked herself as she glanced up nervously, no one had been in touch, it was unlike the other X-Men to keep her uninformed, it seemed for definite her communicator was well and truly broken.  

The flashes of lightning up in the sky seemed to suggest something might be happening – certainly if Ororo were pulling lightning out of the sky there had to be some progress being made in the chase of the rascal who had appeared while they were all on the stakeout waiting to trap Juggernaut – who incidentally, had not shown.

             A dark figure began to become imminent, swinging down from what seemed to be a long fine rope, she watched dumbstruck, eyes wide, and as the figure came swinging towards her, she phased herself quickly, hands in front of herself as if to stop the impact.  

The dark figure swung right through her, she heard a thud as he made impact upon the street, and she turned, looking behind her, he was standing there, seemingly looking right back at her, paused for one moment in what seemed to be thought.

             "Don't run!" she put her hands out as if to stop him.  Too late, he was off again, running towards the south east.  She pressed her hands on her belt, "South East!" she gasped to the communicator, before taking off herself at a run, knowing no matter how fast she was, there was no way she'd catch up with him.

             A beam of red light lit the street, Kitty recognised Scott Summers optic beams, he'd been coming in from the southern direction, she watched, dumbfounded as the dark figure dodged the beams of Scott Summers, flipped and rolled to the side, stopping near a trashcan, picking it up and throwing it at the man. 

             Scott used his optic blast to stop the trash can from hitting him, when he turned, the dark figure was already too far ahead for either Kitty or Scott to catch upon.  

             "Why did you not stop him?!" Scott was running near Kitty, "didn't you hear us."

             "My communicator isn't working!" Kitty bellowed, she couldn't believe Scott was chiding her now like she was still a fifteen year old.  

             "STOP RIGHT THERE!" cried a rather loud firm voice from above, Kitty and Scott both glanced upwards.

             Jean Grey dropped from the sky, long red hair flailing around her, her telekinetic powers slowed her down to a halt just two feet above the ground, Bobby came lunging down a slide of ice near her back while Ororo came descending down from the sky, with her snowy hair flowing in the wind around herself.

             The dark figure was floating two feet above the ground ten feet away from the X-Men – Jean's telekinetic powers had managed to grasp him before he'd made an escape.  Jean let herself drop from her telekinetic hold, and she began to approach the figure, the others following in suit.

             "Why'd he run?" Kitty asked, she herself now breathless from her short run trying to catch up with him.  She leaned forward a little, hands resting on her knees, panting.

             "I do not know," Ororo stated, although she had a very good guess she did not yet want to admit what she had saw up on the roof – it was not right to make assumptions just yet.

             The figure seemed almost as if he were crucified, his arms stretched out straight on either side of himself, legs together tight, head high, Jean's powers having hold on every part of him. 

             "I think I do," Jean moved over to the figure slowly, "I sensed who he was the minute I got close enough…and once you know who he is, you'll understand why he was running…" she reached towards the mask on the dark figure's head and yanked it off quickly, watching the long brown hair tumble free of its confines.  Dark eyes with fiery irises gazed back at them all, an expression of complete shame and anger evident on his chiselled, slightly rough features, he was half shadowed in the darkness of the night, half illuminated in the orangey glow of the nearby streetlights.

             "Oh…my…god," Kitty put her hand to her mouth, as she found herself staring into the face of the man she had not seen in seven long years, the face of someone she'd once considered a close friend, and team-mate.  "It's Gambit…" 

             The dark figure raised his head a little, giving a smirk, his angry expression faded quickly, "Bonjour, Mes Amis." 


	2. Chapter 2: Captured

Dismal Angel 2010 – Episode 1

Chapter 2: Captured

             "I don't believe it," Kitty Pryde whispered near Jean Grey's ear, it was an hour later, and the X-Men – and Remy LeBeau who was known as Gambit - were all in the Blackbird Jet, heading towards Bayville, flying through a clear night sky.

             "What don't you believe?" Jean asked in a low tone, she was sitting next to Kitty, rather primly, hands in her lap.  Her telekinetic powers holding Remy LeBeau motionless to a seat.

             "That we've found him after seven years," Kitty whispered, "and he acts like not a day has passed," Kitty folded her arms, "What are we going to do with him?  Send him straight to prison?" she asked in a low tone.

             Remy LeBeau seemed to be able to overhear, and although not a limb on his body could move thanks to Jean Grey's telekinetic abilities, his mouth was still quite capable of expressing his opinion on the situation.  "Ain't a prison on this Earth that could hold me, remember who you be talkin' about, petit," he sounded somewhat amused.

             Kitty glanced over at him, and threw him a look, but she then chose to ignore him, and she leaned closer to Jean to speak more quietly, "so we're taking him to the Professor?" she asked curiously.

             Jean put a finger to her own lips, "the Professor will know what to do," she said, but she gave Kitty a signal to hush, at least for now.  

             Kitty chewed her lip, "You know what's going to happen, don't you?" she folded her arms stubbornly, although Kitty Pryde had aged seven years since she'd last seen Remy LeBeau, she'd barely aged physically at all, she was still the same petite height and weight, her hair cut short framing her face even seemed to make her look younger – and her flawless face barely showing a trace of being a day over eighteen, let alone being almost twenty-four.  Although her intelligence was at peak, her maturity levels if anything could sometimes still show her as a child at heart.

             "What's going to happen?" Jean sounded rather bored with the conversation already. 

             Kitty glanced back towards Remy, she could see he was listening in, "read my mind," she whispered to Jean, she didn't want the man overhearing anymore of this conversation.

             Jean placed a hand to her temple, and concentrated, Kitty's thoughts echoed in her mind as if they were her own.

             {Rogue is going to go ballistic…she'll kill him.} Kitty thought, looking right at Jean with wide blue eyes.

             Jean seemed to dwell on this for a moment, {until we know the truth about what happened that night – I doubt the Professor is going to allow Rogue that privilege,} Jean projected her thoughts into Kitty's mind, she gave a glance over to Remy who was sitting a few feet away.

             {He murdered her ex-boyfriend, I doubt even the Professor could stop Rogue from getting revenge…you know how strong she is.}

             After a few moments of silence, Remy glanced around to the two women sitting quietly, "telepathically talkin' about me, eh?  Can't say I blame you.  I bet you got a lot of questions you wanna ask."

             "We'll leave the questions for Professor Xavier to ask," Jean said squarely.

             Remy looked at Jean, "Jeannie, how long you know me?  Over eight years now?  Do you think you really need to use your powers to hold me down?  Can't you trust me?"

             "Last time we trusted you, we ended up with a dead boy in our home," Kitty shot at Remy, her eyes narrowed.

             Remy's eyes narrowed slightly too, he and Kitty had once been such good friends, he found it hard to believe how cold she'd grown towards him over the last seven years.   "I never betrayed your trust, Kitty-cat," he responded, his voice very firm, but trying to remain nonchalant, "sooner you realise that, the better, eh?" he looked away from her, feigning a look of indifference, his eyes to the ceiling of the get, he let out a little whistle.  "So…everyone seems to be still with the X-Men…" 

             Kitty shot him a look, "what does that mean?"

             "Just observing," Remy said, he sounded as if he couldn't particularly care less, Kitty found his attitude strangely more aloof than she'd ever known him to be before.  The years had seemingly changed him more than anyone else she'd met.  "So…you're takin' me to Xavier then?" He called loudly up to the front of the jet, where Ororo and Scott were piloting.  

             Ororo glanced over the back of her chair, "unfortunately, Gambit, you are not in a position to object," she pointed out.

             "Didn't say I was objecting, Stormy," Remy raised an eyebrow, "simply querying what's to become of me…are you gonna lock me away for murder or what?"

             "Gambit, pipe down," Scott called down.

             "Alright, but before I do, mes amis," Remy used a calm voice, he looked up to the front of the plane at Scott who was now glancing over the back of the chair, "I have a question?" 

             "What?" Scott asked, a haughty tone to his voice.

             Remy cleared his throat a little, and spoke very firmly, and straightforwardly, that the question caught everyone by surprise.  "Why arrest me…when you don't even know if I'm really truly guilty?"

             No one had an answer, and no one said anything else the whole journey back to Bayville.

             It had been seven long years since Remy LeBeau had entered the hanger area underneath the mansions grounds, where now, the Blackbird jet was situated.  Jean pulling him out of the hatch using her powers.  The hanger seemed almost smaller than it had so long ago, yet everything still sparkled and gleamed as if it were all brand new, and the all too familiar clicking of heels against the concrete floor reminded him of times past.

             Professor Xavier arrived, no longer in an electric wheelchair, but in a silver chair that seemed to hover of its own accord.  He looked good for a man of his age, and Remy felt he should have aged more than he had in the last seven years.

             "Professor," Remy felt obligated to give a curt nod in some form of respect, but his head wasn't free to move at his will, thanks to Jean's powers.  "Seems the years been kind to you, eh?"

             "Jean, please, let him down," Professor Xavier instructed.  

             Jean moved back from Remy a little, she let him drop, Remy felt his body come back into full movement, he strangely tingly after having been under hold of her powers for so long.  

             "Merci," Remy bowed graciously to her, smirking a little with satisfaction, but his expression became somewhat serious when he saw the look on Professor Xavier's face.  

             "The years have not been kind to you, Remy," Professor Xavier noted, his voice rather emotionless, his eyes searching Remy's.

             Remy shrugged, "should they have been?  I'm apparently still labelled a murderer in Bayville…is it any wonder your lot haven't seen me in so long?" 

             "You are still wanted for murder by the Bayville Police," Professor Xavier remarked sharply, "I find it rather callous that you can even talk of Jared's death in such a informal manner as you are right now."

             "What are we to do with him, Professor?" Scott asked, his arms folded, he stood at his full height proudly, his face grim.  "Should we not contact the police?"

             "Perhaps the police would not be the best to handle this case for the time being," Professor Xavier stated calmly, his cold piercing eyes staring right at Remy as if he were trying to see into the young mans brain, "I think we have more capability of finding out the truth from Gambit than the police have at present."

             "How do you plan to extract the truth from me?" Remy asked, he glanced over his shoulder, Ororo Munro stood at his back, Bobby Drake somewhere near his left, Scott to the right.  He hated the fact that those who he'd once considered team-mates were now standing by him as if expecting him to run again.  Truthfully, he wanted to run, but something held him to the spot, and this time it wasn't Jean Grey's telekinetic abilities.

             "I think you already know the answer to that, Remy," Professor Xavier said, his voice soft, "unless you plan on confessing."

             "Confessing?  Why should I confess?" Remy asked, his eyebrows knitting together in a serious frown.

             "You did do it didn't you?" Kitty asked, Remy suddenly remembered she was there also, she was sitting on the steps of the blackbirds hatch, elbows propped on her knees, chin in her hands, she was looking at Remy with keen fascination.

             "I'm not sayin' I did, and I'm not sayin' I didn't, petit," Remy stated to her, he lowered his head a little, looking to the floor, his eyes darkening.

             "Then what did happen?" Kitty asked incredulously

             Remy glanced over his shoulder at her and gave a confident smirk, "That's for me to know, and you to find out."

             "I don't like his attitude," Scott Summers was pacing frantically, "too over confident, how can he be so confident and cold-blooded towards the situation…he's wanted for murder, for Gods sake."

             The large office belonging to Charles Xavier was quiet, the X-Men who had been involved in the capture of Remy LeBeau all sitting or pacing, in a discussion about how they should deal with this situation.  They'd placed Remy in a cell in the mansion's basement area, advising him that if he did try to escape, they'd capture him and this time turn him over to the police.

             "I think he's guilty," Bobby Drake remarked, he was only half interested in the conversation, as his attention was on an ice model of the sinking of the Titanic he was making out of boredom.

             "Why didn't he just admit it?  Why did he say that…" Kitty asked, her blue eyes narrow as she thought long and hard about Remy's exact wording. 

             "Perhaps there is more to the story than we know…we have never known exactly what happened that night," Ororo was sitting on a large wing backed armchair, her back straight, legs crossed, hands on her lap.  

             "What do you propose we do, Professor?" Jean asked, she was standing near the fireplace, watching the flames waver and listening to them crackling.

             "I suggest that we treat this like the law would," Professor Xavier said, "we'll allow him to give his version of the story, and we'll do our best to check the facts."

             "Using telepathy?" Jean asked, the looks on the others faces told her they'd wondered this also.

             Professor Xavier remained silent for a moment, he sat behind his desk, apparently deep in thought, then finally, the answer came, "We will use whatever means necessary to find out how Jared Rickman died…"


	3. Chapter 3: Confrontational

Dismal Angel 2010 – Episode 1

Chapter 3: Confrontational

             The man known only by the name Logan stepped down the metal-walled hallway, the heels of his boots making a soft thud on the metal tiles under his feet, he followed the corridor right down to the bottom and took a turn, ending up in an even narrower passage-way, with two doors on each side, he approached the nearest door.

             He reached up, pulling a small square hatch open on the door, he stood slightly on his toes to peer in, the room was in semi-darkness.  The man known as Remy LeBeau sitting on the solitary bunk, his back pressed against the wall, one knee pulled put to his chest, arm propped up upon it, fingers dangling as he flipped a lone playing card between his nimble fingers.

             "You're lucky Xavier is so willin' to let you have your say, otherwise your ass would be cut up all over that floor for what you did, LeBeau," Logan snarled through the hatch.

             "Why you makin' such a fuss, you didn't like Jared anymore than I did," Remy raised his eyes to the hatch.

             "Just because we don't like someone doesn't mean we have the right to murder them, LeBeau," Logan shot, his voice gruff, and hostile.

             "If that's true, Mon Ami, then you're not exactly going to be allowed the privilege to come in here and cut my ass up, are you?" Remy mused, he raised an eyebrow, "you here for a reason?  Or just to make idle threats?"

             "Just to inform you," Logan replied, frowning, his cold eyes peering through the hatch at the younger man, so far, Remy LeBeau's attitude was not winning him any support, "this evenin' at seven, formally in the War Room, you're on trial for murder, LeBeau."

             "Trial?  If that's so then I got a right to call my attorney," Remy smirked.

             "Wipe that smirk off your face, LeBeau, before I come in and wipe it off for you," Logan growled, anger rising within himself.  Perhaps it wasn't his place to be angry, as Remy had said, he hadn't been Jared Rickman's biggest fan either, but this was murder they were talking about, and what seemed like an unfair murder at that.  

             "Make me," Remy retorted, his voice full of amusement.

             Logan slammed the hatch shut, he wasn't about to let the Cajun rile him up anymore.  He swallowed his anger, trying to remain calm, "watch yourself, LeBeau," he muttered, more to himself than to the man in the cell.  With those final words, Logan left.

             Morning came with very little sunlight, and rain poured down outside, clouds looming precariously over the Xavier Mansion in Bayville.  A taxi-cab pulled up outside the main gates a few minutes past nine am.  Marie D'Ancanto – also known as Rogue - reached over to pay the driver, and stepped out, her tote bag hanging from one shoulder.  

             She'd been gone for the weekend, a solitary vacation to cure a dose of stress caused by overwork in the danger room and too many missions – however successful they may have been.  The vacation had seemed boring, and Rogue was glad to see the mansion again even after only three days having been away.  

Rogue waited until the taxi-cab left, before allowing herself to type in the access code to enter the gates, and soon, she was walking up the driveway, she heard the gates creak shut behind herself.  

Rain spattered down upon her, but she didn't care, it was good to be home, and that was all that mattered.  She approached the large stately mansion, and let herself in, the foyer was empty.  "Hello!" she called out, "I'm home!" she shook some water out of her hair.

Footsteps came from downstairs, Kitty Pryde, still wearing pyjamas, her short hair a mess, the hem of her robe flailing behind her like a pink cape.  "You're home!" she said brightly.

"I said that already," Rogue's petal pink lips curled into a soft smirk, "I tried to call last night, but I couldn't get through to anyone…where were you guys?" she dropped the tote bag on the floor and headed over to a small table, a pile of letters addressed to the various team-members were set there, she flicked through them until coming across a few under her own name.

"Most of us were on a mission," Kitty closed her robe around herself, and made a reasonable attempt to try and flatten down her short layered hair, "Juggernaut was on the loose in Illinois last night, we were on stake out," she explained.

"Catch him?" Rogue queried absently, she opened a credit card statement, her eyes darting across the text, left to right.

"Uh…no, we had managed to trace him so far, but lost him…someone else showed up, Rogue," Kitty realised she might as well be the one to tell her friend of the events involving last nights chase.

Rogue raised her eyes from the piece of paper, her eyes bright with curiosity, "who?"

"Don't get mad…and don't freak out," Kitty held her hands out as if to already calm her.

Rogue began to feel suddenly quite concerned, "uhm…who is it?" she asked, her eyes meeting Kitty's, narrowing a little in her confusion.

"Promise me you're not going to freak out, first," Kitty begged.

"Oh come on, I'm not a kid anymore, when was the last time you saw me freak out?" Rogue gave a soft laugh, she tucked her long hair behind her ears, a few damp curls of her white streaks coming loose and falling across her tan face.

"The last time…we…talked about…him…" Kitty looked away, chewing her lip, she was expecting an outburst, thankfully, there was none.

"Him…?" Rogue raised an eyebrow, "who is 'him'?"

"You know who, Rogue…" Kitty looked at her seriously, eyes widening a little in that dramatic way they always did.

Rogue's mouth dropped a little, "not…" her heart began to pound like she hadn't felt it pound in years.

Kitty felt defeated, and finally admitted it, "Remy…okay?  He's here…"

Rogue's fists clenched immediately, her eyes growing narrower, her face twisting in anger, "Where!?!"

             "In one of the cells…but you shouldn't go down there!" Kitty noted Rogue spinning on the heel of her black leather boot immediately, she tried to grab her, but missed lousily.

             "Try and stop me."

             The cell door opened with a very loud ominous scraping sound that made Remy LeBeau snap to attention despite his exhaustion and lack of sleep, he stood immediately, readying himself, expecting some kind of attack – perhaps from Logan.  He was surprised when it was not Logan approaching through the now open threshold, but the woman known as Rogue, her face full of emotion he couldn't read in the bad lighting.

             She looked taller than he remembered her, her figure had become fuller, her face softer, her hair was long, and seemed to be damp, it was almost straight, but tousled at the ends, wisps of her white streaks hanging in front of her face, even in the bad lighting of the room, Remy could see Rogue had gained some colour in her face, she wore a lot less makeup, and her eyes seemed brighter than the last time he'd looked into them.  She was wearing clothes that once, she would have turned her nose up at, her top a soft lilac shade, her pants dark grey pinstripe, the same kind of fashionable boots she would once make fun of Kitty Pryde for wearing.  She'd changed so much, Remy could barely believe it.

             And the sheer sight of her was enough to weaken him to the point of wanting to tell her everything, and yet, he stayed silent, gawping at her as if she were some vision.

             "I've waited a long…long time…for this…" Rogue remarked, she swung out towards him, her fist colliding with his jaw, knocking him backwards, he slammed into the wall, barely making a sound, he looked at her, he was not appalled.

             "I guess I deserved that…" Remy tasted blood, and his tongue was smarting, he realised dolefully he'd probably bitten it on the impact of her punch.

             "You deserve a lot more than that!" Rogue threw her fist out again, catching him in the stomach, winding him, he doubled over, letting out a soft wheeze.

             "Rogue, stop it!" Kitty had caught up with her, she caught Rogue's wrist before the third punch could be made, Rogue tried to left punch at Remy, Kitty made a grab, catching her fist in her own.

             "Let me go!" Rogue screamed, struggling violently, she tried to kick at Remy, Kitty focused all her energy into phasing them both, and watched Rogue's foot effortlessly sail right through Remy's head.

             "Why is she in here?!" demanded a voice, Ororo Munro come running through the door, white hair sailing behind her.

             "I tried to stop her," Kitty was still holding onto Rogue, concentrating on phasing her to stop any more hostile behaviour towards the young man who was crouched in pain now near the corner. 

             Remy swallowed the taste of blood, looking up at the three women, Rogue's expression was wild, Kitty's was extremely frightened, and Ororo's was mixed with anger and concern.

             "Rogue, you must not harm him!" Ororo used a sharp tone of authority.

Rogue's eyes were still ablaze with rage, the look on her face made Remy's blood run cold, as if liquid ice were pumping through his veins.  "He murdered Jared!" Rogue shrieked, "He deserves the same punishment."

             "It is not for you to decide his punishment," Ororo put her hand on Rogue's quivering shoulder, looking at her with her sky blue eyes, "Now go to the war room at once, Professor Xavier wishes to see you," she commanded.

             Rogue spat at Remy before pulling free finally of Kitty, turning around and stomping out of the cell in a rage.

             Remy held onto his aching stomach, "she's still got that temper," he mused with a weak laugh, he gave a little cough.

             Ororo threw a look at Remy and decided to ignore his inappropriate amusement, "do you need medical attention?"

             "I don't deserve it, Stormy," Remy replied, he let out another small cough, his voice barely a whisper after having all the air punched out of him, "just let me be," he glanced up to Kitty who was looking at him with a mix of emotion showing on her face.

             "Kitty…I trust you can lock up?" Ororo asked.

             Kitty gave a nod, she stood with her arms folded, looking down at Remy.  Something in her wanted to allow herself to drop to her knees beside him and check that he was okay, but for the most part, her thoughts kept reminding herself of what he'd done and why he was here in this cell, and she grew cold towards him.  She couldn't find anything to say, she had a thousand questions she wanted to ask, and yet she kept quiet, knowing all would be hopefully answered in due time. 

             Remy allowed the awkward silence to pass between them, "Rogue changed…"

             "For the better," Kitty looked down at her feet, "Dragging Rogue through all this crap is the last thing any of us want, Gambit," Kitty let her arms fall to her sides, she looked at him.  He looked as if he hadn't aged a year, let alone seven, he was rough around the edges, but still looked the same.  It was almost as if no time at all had passed.  "We've spent so much time helping her get through what you did to her, LeBeau," Kitty remarked coldly, "and here you are again, and it's gonna mess her up good – every time you come here you mess her up."

             "It wasn't my idea to come here, petit," Remy reminded, "You chased me, I hadn't done anythin' wrong, you didn't even know who I was…you could have left it," he said.  "It was just bad timing I had to be there…"

             "What the hell were you doing there anyway?" Kitty demanded, frowning slightly.

             "Man's gotta work," Remy responded.

             "In other words, someone was about to be robbed blind," Kitty rolled her eyes, looking away from him with absolute disgust.

             "You say that like it's a bad thing," Remy gave something of a laugh, but it soon faded, he watched her serious face, her blue eyes oozing with mixed hatred and confusion over what she felt.  He was still someone she'd been friends with, and he could see the part of her that so much wanted to be able to speak to him on the terms of friendship and ask him for the truth, but he could see the other part also, the part of her that had grown older and wiser, and become more weary of him.  He couldn't blame her.

             "None of us find you funny anymore," Kitty headed towards the door, "jokes aren't going to help you when you're being questioned for Jared's murder, Gambit," she glanced over her shoulder at him, throwing him once last dismayed look, and then she left, slamming the metal door behind herself, and soon, the click and beep of the computerised lock sounded, leaving Remy secured in the prison cell alone.


	4. Chapter 4: Questioning Trust

Dismal Angel 2010 – Episode 1

Chapter 4: Questioning Trust

             Rogue stepped through the open doorway into Professor Charles Xavier's large luxurious office.  Despite the warm calming colours of the office, it did nothing to soothe Rogue's anger.   Her was blood still pumping through her veins with the kind of fury she hadn't known in a very long time.  For the most part, she'd learned to control her anger years previous, but seeing Remy in that cell, seeing him look at her the way he used to, it had brought new demons in her to the surface she'd tried to suppress for the last seven years – and had succeeded in doing so up until that very moment. 

It felt as if a massive explosion had let loose everything in her head all at once.  She wasn't sure if she could hold back anything anymore.  Rushes of emotions washing over her from every direction

             Professor Xavier was sitting near the open fire in his hover chair, leaning forward and stoking it with a poker, his position so precarious Rogue was almost certain he'd topple over, but he didn't, instead, he succeeded in what he was doing, the flames rose slightly, and he placed the poker back on a stand by the large marble fireplace.

             "What is Gambit doin' here?!" Rogue demanded, she hadn't meant to sound so incensed with the Professor, but she could barely hold back the ferocity that was building up inside her. 

             "The team ran across him last night," Professor Xavier stated, "as you know, he's still wanted for the murder of Jared Rickman," he already knew Rogue had a good idea of why Remy was here though, and he felt his explanation only made her all the more livid than she had been before, she was so angry she was shaking.  "Please, Rogue, will you close the door?"

             Rogue slammed the door shut with an air of malaise, her eyes darkening as she looked to the Professor, waiting for more than his vague explanation.  "Why didn't you turn him into the police?!  He deserves to rot in a Prison cell for eternity!  Or better yet, he deserves the electric chair for what he did!" she hissed.

             Professor Xavier watched her every movement, as she spoke, her hands gestured out in frustration, as always when her anger flared like this, her accent grew thicker with every word, and her voice grew all the more coarse.  

Professor Xavier slowly moved over, "Rogue, before we can decide on Remy's fate…" he softened his expression, keeping his cool blue eyes upon hers, "we must confirm if he is at least guilty."

             "Of course he's guilty!  Didn't Jared's dead body prove that?!" Rogue was affronted, her mouth hanging open, her tan face becoming pale at the memory of Jared's crushed body as she'd found him that night.  

             "I understand what you're saying, to me, Rogue," he said, his voice become all the more caring, he tried to maintain a gentle approach to her in attempt to calm her from her vexation. "Something in the way of Remy's behaviour when he was captured and brought here suggests to me that there may be more to the situation than we were able to fathom from what little evidence was found."

             Rogue looked away, fuming.

             "He is not denying the murder of Jared completely, and yet…he is not admitting to the murder either.  The police do not have the ability to find out the truth in the ways we can, Rogue," the Professor stated rationally.

             Rogue's eyes fell to the floor, her cheeks flushing with rage, "if he weren't guilty he wouldn't have run, Professor, in my mind – and everyone else's – that's all the proof we need."

             "This evening at seven I'm calling you all to the War Room, we'll discuss the situation – and then Remy will be brought in for questioning, so we can determine the truth."

             "The police could do that you know," Rogue shot at him angrily, clenching her teeth, still trembling with rage.

             "I realise this, of course, but he may well escape from the police before being questioned – and we cannot risk this," Professor Xavier reminded.

"He could escape from here, too, Professor, he's not stupid, he knows how to unlock almost any door…he's probably already figured out how to get out of that cell!" Rogue frowned, "And anyway, do you actually expect him to tell the truth?  Or answer at all, you know he's a pathological liar," she folded her arms broodingly, looking away from him.

"If he refuses to answer our questions, we may have to dig in his mind telepathically," Professor Xavier added, quickly, before she could comment on it anymore.

             Rogue took a deep breath, trying to swallow her anger, "I can't be in the same room as him, Professor…" she trailed off shaking her head, "I can't guarantee he'd live long enough to give his version of the story."

             "We won't let you harm him, Rogue, however much you may think – at this point – he deserves it," the Professor gave a weary sigh, "in the meantime, I would advise to take some rest and try and calm yourself down."

             "Calm myself down?  While he's in this building?!  Not a chance," Rogue pursed her lips together tightly. "Not…a…chance."

             "Do you think he did it?" Kurt Wagner was hanging upside down from his tale – which was wrapped a steel pipe near the ceiling in the War Room.  He glanced over to Kitty Pryde, who was sitting with a small screw driver and a soldering iron trying to repair her broken communicator.

             "Really doesn't matter what I think, Kurt," Kitty gave a deep sigh, already growing weary of the subject that, even at this time of the day – four pm – was already the height of conversation in the mansion.  "He basically gave us the indication he wasn't denying it, but he wasn't admitting it…and to be honest, I don't know what to think about this whole thing anymore," she said jadedly.

It was a scandal that no one could help discussing, even the young students who resided in the Mansion seemed to have somehow found out about Remy LeBeau, and what he'd done in the past, and when Kitty had been tutoring a small class of fourteen year old mutants on geometry, she'd heard them whispering to each other about it every time she'd turned her back to write something on the whiteboard in the library.

At lunch time the kitchen had been a buzz of commotion, rumours flying about things Remy LeBeau had supposedly done.  And there was a lot of speculation on how Remy and Rogue could have even had a semi-romantic relationship considering Rogue's mutant abilities.  Luckily, Ororo had overheard all the gossip and had handed out detentions freely for those who had passed rumours around, advising it was not their place to make judgements on matters that didn't concern them at all.  Things had started to quiet down around two pm, thankfully.

"You were good friends with him," Kurt pointed out, "you even dated him for a short time, surely you must have made some verdict for what he did," his arms were folded as he hung upside down, his long raven-blue-black hair swaying with every slight movement he made.

Kitty had completely forgotten about having dated Remy fleetingly in a half-vague attempt to make Rogue jealous.  Her friendship with Remy had never really been the same since he'd kissed her one night in front of Rogue.  "We dated to make Rogue jealous," Kitty reminded, her blue eyes resting upon her blue-furred friend as he hung upside down like a large furry blue bat, "but what does that have to do with anything?"

"Well you must have some rough idea if he's capable of murder," Kurt responded.

Kitty looked down at her communicator, which was now lying in pieces on the war room table, "he tried to kill someone before, Kurt, don't you remember?"

Kurt let himself down from the ceiling, his feet making a soft pat as he landed catlike upon the floor, "I'd nearly forgotten," he responded, "the nightclub?"

Kitty gave a curt nod, and tucked her hair behind her ears, "I have a feeling the question of that will be brought up tonight," she admitted sheepishly, "maybe Rogue shouldn't even be present for this trial thing…she's just gotten totally 'normal'…and now the Professor is gonna drag her through everything with Gambit again…it's gonna mess her up so bad, I'm so worried about her – this is the last thing she needs."

"Rogue is a fighter, she'll be fine," Kurt assured confidently, "She's grown a lot stronger since the days of Cajun caressing," Kurt smirked a little with a twinkle evident in his yellow eyes, his way of dealing with serious situations with humour had always been the thing Kitty admired about Kurt the most, especially when the rest of the team had grown so serious with age.  

Kitty wished she could be as easy going as Kurt about this situation, but she found it difficult, already being torn between what had once been friendship and the way she was expected to react towards Remy because of his guilt for murder.  "It's hard for me to know what to think, anymore, Kurt," she gave a deep doleful sigh, and she leaned back in her chair.

"What do you mean?" Kurt asked, he flicked a small piece of lint off of his shoulder.

"I mean…I was meant to be his friend – I should probably be supporting him or something…but Rogue is my friend too, and she believes he's really guilty…" Kitty explained, she rested her elbows upon the table, propping her chin in her hands, looking at Kurt who was now sitting folded legged upon the table, looking at her with the same keen interest.

Kurt gave an understanding nod, listening to her attentively.

Kitty let out a small wail of frustration, "God I wish I'd never made the assumption he was guilty when this all happened, I was the first to say 'maybe he did kill Jared', and now look what's happening…everyone believes he's a murderer…and maybe he is, who knows…" she shrugged, "But I feel like I'm caught in the middle of it all…" she added with a little groan.  "I suppose I should just stay on Rogue's side, at least I know I can trust Rogue, where as Remy…?  I can trust him just about as far as I can throw him…"


	5. Chapter 5: Preliminary

Dismal Angel 2010 – Episode 1

Chapter 5: Preliminary

             The War Room was alive with life at five minutes to seven pm when Rogue stepped through the threshold.  The X-Men – and a few non-X-Men – sitting around the large circular steel table in the centre of the room, their voices intermingling with each others so she couldn't even begin to fathom who was saying what.  However, when Rogue made her presence known by stepping over, all fell silent, and they all looked up at her with something of a guilty air, then their eyes fell from her to look at anything other than her.  Rogue sighed, she'd known she shouldn't have come.

             Already she could feel their secret stares, and she could tell they were thinking about her and judging her vulnerability already.  She could already practically hear their voices saying 'Poor Rogue' in a whisper to each other.  She turned about to leave, Kurt caught her at the doorway, he was just coming in, and they almost collided, Kurt capturing her by the arms to stop them smacking into each other.

             "Rogue, not leaving are you?" Kurt asked, his tone almost too cheerful for the situation at hand, his silvery yellow eyes overlooking her quickly.  He could see her tension mounting, it showed in the way she stood, in the way she tried to seem casual and composed as she stood there with an oversized dark grey t-shirt hanging off the shoulder revealing an all over black bodysuit underneath, slight stains upon the front and under the arms of the t-shirt suggested she'd been working out – perhaps to vent some of her anger.

             "No," Rogue lied, she feigned a smile, and forced herself to lie to her adoptive brother, "I was actually coming looking for you…"

             "Well, here I am," Kurt patted his own chest in the manner of Tarzan.

             Rogue felt a slight disappointment, she wanted to escape entirely, she didn't want to have to have to retell her version of this story again, she'd relived it so many times in her head already, and whenever she thought about it the vision of Jared's crushed body haunted her dreams the following nights.  "Yeah, there you are," Rogue turned and stepped back in sheepishly, she took a seat beside Ororo Munro, and Samuel Guthrie.

             "Long time no see, Rogue," Sam smiled at her bashfully from behind his long golden bangs of hair, his cheeks turning pink.  

             Rogue couldn't force herself to smile back, "I take it the Professor pulled you all the way here from your X-Force Duties to take part in this damn fiasco," she sighed, knowing that Sam was part of another mutant freedom fighting team, she hadn't seen him in almost a year.

             Sam gave a curt nod, he reached over and put his hand on her arm, the leather of his gloves pressing gently against the fabric of her sleeve, "I'm sorry they're putting you through all this, Rogue," he said softly.

             Rogue gave a vague nod, and looked away, she folded her arms and crossed one leg over the other, Professor Xavier entered the room upon his hover chair, his head high, hands together neatly.  At his back, Remy LeBeau followed, head hanging low, hair covering his face – and a very large bruise and swelling on his jaw left by Rogue from earlier that morning.  Behind Remy, Logan entered, he seemed far more disgruntled than usual, and his fist was angled squarely at Remy's back, which – to Rogue – seemed to indicate if Remy made a false move, Logan would surely unsheath his claws.

             Kitty, who was sitting wedged between Kurt, and Bobby, glanced quickly over to Rogue to check that her friend was alright, but the emotion building in Rogue's expression when Remy entered the room spoke many volumes, and Kitty only wished she had the ability to turn back time and avoid this whole thing from ever happening somehow.

             "Thank you for all coming, everyone," Professor Xavier took a place at a far end of the table where he was in view of everyone, "I know some of you do have more important obligations at hand, so we will try to make this trial as brief as possible."

             Jean Grey glanced over everyone with an eager air of importance, as she counted heads to make sure everyone was present and accounted for, Scott Summers was standing near a very large monitor built into the wall, his arms folded, and grim face suggesting his keen intent to listen closely to the Professor's every word.

             Hank McCoy had a cardboard folder in front of himself, and he watched the Professor as he pushed his glasses rectangular spectacles further up his nose.

             "November the third, two-thousand-and-three, a large blast sounded, disturbing almost everyone in the mansion from slumber at approximately two-zero-five am," the Professor said, his voice loud and clear, he turned to Jean and looked at her with an air of indication that she should speak.

             Jean stood up so everyone could see her, "When I woke up, the first thing I did was glance at the clock – it was about two-zero-five am.  Even though I'd been asleep I'd felt the blast shake the mansion, I knew it hadn't been a dream.   It seemed to have come from a level below so I left the room running, just as Rogue and Kitty came dashing out of their room, and as I was running, sensed that the blast had come from Gambit's room – near the end of the hall beside the bathroom and across from Sam's room," Jean explained.  

             Rogue looked down to the table, the memories of the traumatic night flashing through her mind in bits and pieces.

             "When the three of us got to the hall, Sam and Bobby were coming out of their rooms, the door to Gambit's room had been blown off completely and was on the floor, myself, Rogue and Kitty went in, the room was in a shambles…" she explained.

             Scott tapped a finger on the keyboard nearby him, and on the monitor, a still-photo appeared of the damage that had been caused that night, Rogue felt a terrific jolt of horror rush through her, the picture so clear and large it was almost like being in the room again.

             "The wall to the outside had almost been completely blown away, some of the debris had come inwards rather than outwards though.  Logan came in then, while I was trying to telepathically scan the wreckage for any survivors –finding none.  Logan told us that he had picked up two scents.  One was Remy LeBeau.  When Rogue began to search the debris, she found Jared Rickman – the other scent – a seventeen year old student who had previously run out on the X-Men after having an argument with Rogue and using his powers on Kitty," Jean explained.  

             Rogue forced herself to become cold to reliving this, she glanced up to where Remy was standing near the monitor, hands both clasped together, head hanging low, she only saw a trace of the red glint of his eyes slightly showing through his long brown hair.

             "Jared had died from head injuries, which Hank confirmed may have come from when the wall came down upon him," Jean explained, "but the events surrounding Jared's death are…shady at best.  Remy had darted before we'd had time to arrive into his room, and when we did a search for him, there was no trace of him.  That night Cerebro only managed to pick up very small signals from his mutant signature – however nothing influential enough to trace."

             "This…could be due to an amount of MutantX," Hank said, "a drug that had been used on Remy when he'd been previously kidnapped," he explained, "where is no factual proof on this theory," he added woefully.

             Jean continued, "so what we're all here to find out…" she glanced over to Remy and gestured towards him, "is if it's possible that Remy LeBeau is really guilty of murdering Jared Rickman on third of November two-thousand-and-three, and to determine if there is any evidence that he did."

             Remy said nothing, he simply glanced at them all through his hair.

             "Before we begin to question Remy, I would like to ask Rogue some questions…" Jean said, she glanced towards Rogue.

             Rogue felt herself shrinking in her chair, she folded her arms more tightly, looking down to the table, there was no way of getting out of this now, everyone expected her to say something, and she had to do what she felt was right, "ask away."

             "When was the last time you saw Remy before his capture last night?" Jean asked, she looked at Rogue.

             Rogue tried to focus on the question for a moment, but found herself thinking what a decent Lawyer Jean might have made, "hmm?  Oh…" she blinked and came to her senses, "around eleven pm," she said, "I went to his room, he was signing divorce papers," she explained.

             "What did you both talk about?" Jean asked, she felt the Professor's eyes staring at her, smiling at how Professionally she was treating this trial, despite law was not her chosen profession.

             Rogue paused for thought, trying to remember, "we talked a bit about his wife…Genevieve," she responded, she felt as if her heart were stinging just to think of it all again, "then we talked a bit about other things…" she closed her eyes for a moment and forced herself to remember, "he said somethin' about his family would be disgraced by his marriage to Genevieve, and it ended up in this strange discussion – he was talkin' about wanting to up and leave everything, get a whole new identity," she said, "which seemed so strange to me at the time because he had it good," Rogue's voice was full of bitterness.

             Remy raised his head slightly in response to her voice, and looked at her, his eyes peering through his long hair.

             "He told me he wasn't leavin', and I said goodnight shortly after…went to bed," Rogue finished her statement.

             "And then you woke up around the same time as we all did?"

             "Yeah," Rogue nodded.

             "So there's some suspiciousness about why he was wanting to leave, then?" Bobby interrupted, without even waiting to have been asked his opinion, he wasn't sure if he was allowed to speak, he felt rather like a jury member in a court case, but decided since he knew everyone, he didn't need to be coy.  "I mean, he talks about leaving, and then boom, Jared is dead," Bobby said, "so far, he seems one-hundred-percent guilty."

             Jean gave a wan smile, "we're not ready for a verdict, yet, Bobby."

             Professor Xavier glanced to Kitty, "Kitty and Rogue were studying the footage from the security monitors approximately an hour after the event took place," he gestured to the monitor on the wall.  

             Scott pressed another key on the keyboard, and a video began to play, a very fuzzy black and white image, a tall lanky boy moving quickly towards the mansion from the direction of the gates.

             "Jared apparently still had access," Jean said mournfully, "and walked right in at one-forty-three am," she gestured to the numbers at the top of the screen indicating the time and date. 

             Professor Xavier drew his breath, "so with those accounts of what happened that night, I don't think we need to press anyone for questions, just yet," he stated, he turned to Remy, "So, Remy, are you ready to tell us your side of the story?  You're here because you're under suspicion of murdering Jared Rickman, will you tell us your account?  Are you guilty?"

             Remy smirked a little, he felt as if he were in some movie based around a court room rather than the war room of the Xavier estate, but his smirk faded into his rough face, and his expression became grim, and with a dry hoarse voice, he spoke.

"Oh, I'm guilty alright."


	6. Chapter 6: Remy's Account

Dismal Angel 2010 – Episode 1

Chapter 6: Remy's Account

             There were a few gasps and surprised curses from the X-Men as they looked towards the man who was standing near the monitor, who'd just admitted himself guilty of murdering Jared Rickman.

             Rogue's mouth fell open, her face turning as ashen as her white streaks, she swallowed nervously, not sure how to respond anymore to this.

             Jean hushed the room, and moved over to Remy, "tell us what happened, Remy."

             Remy threw his head back a little, tossing his hair out of his face, "do you want me to start from the beginning?" he raised an eyebrow, "or just the part where I blew the room up."

             Jean frowned a little, "the beginning, if you please."

             "Sure thing, red," Remy reached up to scratch the bridge of his nose absently, "it was about maybe 1.51am.  I was lyin' half asleep on the bed when I heard the door creakin' open, and I shot up, quick as a flash – even when I had some pain in my back.  In the shadow, I could barely see anythin' 'cause the moon outside was clouded over, no light comin' in through the windows, so the first thing I did was rush to the wall to hit the light switch, next thing I know, I felt some intense pain runnin' through my back – and this time, it wasn't 'cause of my injuries," Remy said, "Jared Rickman was in the room with me, and he had a hold of me, I felt like electric surges were rushin' up my spine, I couldn't pull away, the pain was so incredible it made me scream – and funnily enough no one seems to have heard that," he said with a vicious snarl.

             Logan, who had remained close to Remy, nudged him in the back, "Just finish the damn story," he muttered.

             Remy sighed and looked over to Rogue, "Jared was a fucking lunatic, you didn't have to be a psychologist to know that," he said, "when he let go of me I fell to the floor, and Jared started talkin' about all this stuff, stuff that wasn't true," Remy frowned, "said you were gonna be with him again, said you'd leave me for him, said you told him you loved him," he swallowed, his expression now a little fervent.  "We argued, I told him he was insane, and that the X-Men would never take him back after what he did to Kitty.  He told me what he did to Kitty was nothin' compared to what he was goin' to do to me…" Remy trailed off, he glanced to Kitty, frowning a little, there was a strange look on her face as if she didn't believe him.

             "What then?" Jean asked.

             Remy looked back around the room at them all, "we began fightin', even through all the pain I was in," he explained, "every time I tried to hit my hands sailed right through him, and I didn't have time to grab any weapons," he suddenly stared into space as if he were reliving it in his mind again, he spoke so distantly as he did so, "he kicked me right in the chest, and it didn't phase through me, in fact, it knocked me back so hard that when I landed on the bed I'm sure I heard the wood crack…I rolled off and onto the floor," he explained, "when I tried to get up for moments, I was in so much pain I felt almost paralysed, my fingers were touchin' the dresser," he said, "Jared came over, pressed his foot down on me, and I felt it half phase into my chest…the next thing I know, there are massive sparks flyin' across the room, everything seemed to be lightin' up around us, and I felt like my whole body was alive with electricity…I didn't know I was chargin' up the dresser which was restin' against the wall…" Remy's accent seemed all the more thicker as he told everyone this, "I didn't know when I let go that the whole room was gonna cave in on us…" he looked down to the floor, then remained silent, his fingers at his sides trembling slightly.  "I didn't even know I was capable of emitting that much kinetic energy even accidentally…"

             "So it was accidental…?" Ororo asked.

             Remy shrugged, "I still did it…" he looked at Ororo, "didn't I?" 

             Rogue watched Remy's every moment, "he's lying!" she cried at him, "he wants you to think that he's tellin' the truth!  He wants you to think Jared was the bad guy here, but the truth was it was him!  He already knew he was gonna leave that night, and he realised he'd be as well takin' out the only other guy I had any interest in what so ever!" 

             Remy frowned at Rogue, "I wasn't gonna leave!" he spat the words out as if they left a foul taste in his mouth, "I was gonna stay – for you!  Only how could I have expected you to want me after I killed Jared?!  You'd have suspected me then like you suspected me now, so I did what I had to, I left the ring you gave me on my daughters grave, and I left!"

             Rogue looked at him, her eyes swimming with the first genuine tears she'd cried in almost two years, "You left because you murdered him deliberately!  Admit it!  You wanted to kill him!" she stood up.

             Remy moved quickly over to the table and slammed his hands against the cold steel, "I did want to kill him!  I wanted to kill him because of all the fuckin' emotional abuse and not to mention the physical pain he put you through whenever he didn't get his own way!  But I wasn't about to risk it because I knew if I did I'd lose you!" Remy's eyes flickered an angry red, Rogue was sure she could see tears forming in his eyes too, but he forced it back with control she'd never seen in him before.  "But what did it matter, I lost you either way!  So what difference does it make if I say I'm guilty or not!?!  Because in your eyes, no matter what I done, I always was guilty, and no matter what I do, I always will be!"

             Logan put his hand on Remy's shoulder, yanking him back from the table, "Easy, bub," he muttered.

             The silence in the room was uncanny, no one dared even breathe, let alone speak, they all stared at each other, and then back to Remy.

             Suddenly, a voice spoke up.

             "I believe you."

             The entire group turned themselves to face Sam Guthrie, who had spoke, his face turning red as everyone turned to gawk at him in disbelief.

             "You…what?" Kitty asked, the first time she'd spoke since the trial had begun.

             "I believe him," Sam said, he gestured towards Remy, he tried to remain confident, but he was quickly losing that confidence to the pressure of their stares, "Jared was a maniac," he said, "I roomed with him, remember?  He was obsessed with Rogue," he gestured towards Rogue who was sitting next to him, "He never stopped talkin' about her, and if any of us ever looked at Rogue the wrong way he used to give us hell for it…I mean seriously…" Sam said, "the guy used to scare us all…he used to listen to death music, he'd talk about suicide as if it were a dinner conversation, he brought drugs into the mansion a couple of times," Sam admitted, "I'm talkin' hard drugs…sometimes you could see he was on stuff, all you had to do was look at him…"

             Hank frowned, "drugs?"

             Kitty gaped, "oh my god…you're right," she admitted, "he did bring drugs in…me and Rogue caught him nicely one day, he was smoking pot in Remy's room…" Kitty admitted, "and then later Rogue told me he had MutantX…"

             Professor Xavier frowned a little, "in seven years, why have you two decided to neglect to tell me this?" he asked of both Kitty and Rogue.

             Kitty chewed her lip, Rogue didn't give any indication of feeling sorry at all.

             "Who did the autopsy on Jared?" Ororo asked, her voice stern, but somewhat caring at the same time.

             Hank opened his folder and searched through the papers, "I believe a Doctor Harris from Bayville General Hospital performed the autopsy.  Autopsy report was never officially released to us, because the death was apparently from head injury," he explained, he ran his finger down a passage of text on the paper, "Yes, here it is, Doctor Jeremy Harris," he said.

             "Could you please get in touch with Doctor Harris and request those results, please, Hank?" Professor Xavier requested.

             Hank stood up, nodding, "at once," he replied, sounding delighted, and he left the room quickly at a fast pace.

             "Okay, now everything is just getting really confusing," Bobby said, his arms folded, he was leaning back casually in his chair, "what difference does it make if the guy was on drugs or not?"

             "Will you shut up?!" Kitty threw him a disgusted look.

             "At the moment, we do not have much evidence surrounding any of these facts," Jean admitted.

             "You want evidence?" Remy's dark eyes swung in Jean's direction, he looked at her, eyes slightly narrowed, "what more evidence could you need than my own memories, red?  Wanna get inside my head?"

             Jean clenched her teeth, "I'd rather not."

             "Afraid you might see somethin' you don't like?" he raised an eyebrow.

             Professor Xavier moved over slowly, "I will do it," he stated.

             "Ah, wait," Remy paused, and turned to Rogue, "let her do it," he gestured to Rogue who was sitting, her expression horrified at his suggestion.

             "Excuse me?!" Rogue demanded angrily, she was still standing.

             Remy looked at Rogue, "You're the one who's gonna take the most convincin', Chere," he remarked.  "it'll be nice to finally prove you wrong."

             "I'm not your 'Chere', anymore."

             Remy walked around the table towards her, surprised when she stepped back to avoid him.

             "Scared?" Remy smirked a little

             "Not of you," Rogue frowned.

             "Of the truth, maybe," Remy moved towards her again, faster this time, and she found herself pressed against a wall, looking at him, "I'll make it easy for you," he grabbed a hold of her wrist swiftly and yanked one of her brown cotton gloves off, "I'll even give you some incentive," he looked at her, "if you do this…and find out I'm guilty once you absorb my thoughts…" he let his eyes lock onto hers, "you can do to me what you will," he looked at her pointedly, "kill me if you like."

             Rogue frowned, he sounded so confident about it, and she wanted to prove him wrong, "Deal," she muttered, she tensed as he let go of her wrist and stood before her readily. 

             Remy kept his eyes on her as her fingers reached towards him, her bare fingertips touched his forehead and he felt as if he were being pulled out of himself, it weakened him, left his legs feeling much like jelly and his nerves raw.

             Rogue jerked her hand back as the memories came sailing through her, not only memories, but the pain he'd felt seven years previous came with it.  Visions soared past her eyes like a videotape on fast forward, colour and thoughts vivid and precise, as if they might have only happened yesterday.  She lurched and staggered across room, holding her head as the memories besieged her.  

             Remy stood, breathing heavy, leaning against the wall for support.  The room had grown silent once again, waiting for Rogue to answer.

             Rogue finally slammed into a wall and slid down it, holding her head, she found herself suddenly sobbing hysterically as the emotion overwhelmed her, "he's innocent."

             At that moment Hank McCoy stepped into the room, looking rather enlightened, "I've just gotten off the phone with Dr Harris…it appears that Jared Rickman had been using a vast amount of Lysergic acid diethylamide…"

             "What is that?" Bobby raised eyebrows.

             "LSD," Kitty remarked.

             "Anyone who knows enough about drugs will tell you it can make you violent in extreme circumstances," Hank admitted, "they also found slight traces of an unknown drug as well…which may have well been MutantX – it may explain why Jared was able to push Gambit without phasing through him completely," Hank explained.

             "We've just confirmed his innocence, Hank," Kitty murmured, to keep Hank up to date since he had not been there to witness Rogue's revelation.

             "Ohhh," Hank nodded, "all is good then?"

             "It will be once you get the police off my back and clear my criminal record," Remy said, "it's the least I think you can do."

             Professor Xavier seemed sullen, but realised Remy had a right to request this, "very well…we'll do what we can, in the meantime, I would advise for you to stay here until we do so.

             Rogue, who had been sobbing near the corner, glanced up to look at the Professor, was he serious?  Have Remy stay in the mansion after all that'd happened?  This seemed too much for her to bear, but she didn't have the emotional strength to argue with anyone about this right now.  She simply hugged her knees and rested chin upon them as her tears began to run out.

             "Fine," Remy stated, "but please can I get a better mattress in that prison cell?" he joked,  "I've slept on rocks that have been softer."

End.

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******Authors Note******  Thanks to all the people who freaked out over the end of Dismal Angel and reviewed pleading for it to not be the end.  Remember people, KEEP REVIEWING, even if its just to ask a question or whatever, reviews let me know I'm doin' okay, or that people are ACTUALLY still reading and that I'm not putting stories up for a phantom audience that doesn't exist…lol.


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